Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Receives Average Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Aura Biosciences, Inc. has received an average consensus rating of "Buy" from nine brokerages, with a 1-year price target of $22.00.
• Insider trading activity included SVP Amy Elazzouzi selling 7,722 shares at an average price of $6.70, reducing her ownership by 8.19%.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds hold 96.75% of Aura Biosciences' stock, highlighting strong institutional interest in the company.

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the nine analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

AURA has been the topic of a number of research reports. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Aura Biosciences from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aura Biosciences

In other Aura Biosciences news, SVP Amy Elazzouzi sold 7,722 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.70, for a total value of $51,737.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 86,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $579,938.60. This trade represents a 8.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Aura Biosciences

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AURA. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 49.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 5,766.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,739 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 9,573 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 24.3% in the second quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 2,434 shares in the last quarter. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aura Biosciences Stock Down 6.9%

NASDAQ:AURA traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $6.18. 193,965 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 146,939. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $383.90 million, a P/E ratio of -3.15 and a beta of 0.45. Aura Biosciences has a 1 year low of $4.34 and a 1 year high of $12.38.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.49) by $0.02. As a group, research analysts predict that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 EPS for the current year.

Aura Biosciences Company Profile

Aura Biosciences, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops precision immunotherapies to treat a range of solid tumors. The company's proprietary platform enables the targeting of a range of solid tumors using virus-like particles conjugated with drugs or loaded with nucleic acids to create virus-like drug conjugates.